The following letter in reprinted from Families United, on their new Military Kids Blog. I hope you will point out their site to everyone you know. ‘What July 4th Means To Me’ is by Katie Glenn, age 20. While our troops are our heroes, some know them as all that and more:

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are the things 13 colonies decided to go to war for against the most powerful nation in the world. These three ideas are what this country has gone to war for in Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. American troops fight to protect these rights for American citizens, but if they happen to give them to citizens of foreign countries they feel their duty has been served. This Fourth of July is the 233rd Independence Day America has had the privilege to experience. It is the second 4th of July I have experienced without my Dad.

My dad is currently serving in Baghdad protecting Americans from Islamic extremists, but he is also meeting the people of Iraq who believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He is talking to, and influencing, the people who will lead Iraq in the coming years. Fourth of July without my dad is strange, because to me, my dad IS the Fourth of July. I see independence in the tall, broad shouldered, straight backed man wearing a desert combat uniform and boots. I see independence in the man who automatically stands at attention to the Star Spangled Banner. I see independence in the man who proudly marched onto a plane and went to a foreign country for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

But it is not just these moments that remind me of Fourth of July when it comes to my dad. It is sharing an ice cream cone we snuck out to have, just the two of us one hot summer afternoon. It’s having him turn the hose on me while my sister and I wash the car with him. It’s being lifted on to his shoulders when I was 6 to watch the fireworks display at an Army base proudly celebrating the country it fights for. It is these moments that my dad fights for when he fights for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Fourth of July is fireworks, hot dogs, and sweltering heat. It’s the Star Spangled Banner, American flags on front porches, and parades. Fourth of July is my dad, in every moment of every day.

Happy Independence Day! Please remember those who defend liberty and their families.